Category: maritime transport

Sea transportation is the movement of goods and people from one place to another by sea or any other waterways. Hence, ship engineers, as it were, are people who run or in charge of the engine in a ship. They play major roles in ensuring a smooth sea transportation and preventing unwanted mechanical or technical faults by maintaining propulsion plants during operations. These, among others, explain indispensable obligations of ship engineers.
In addition, ship engineers also perform other functions such as maintaining the sewage, the lighting, the heating, the air conditioning, the lubrication, the ventilation, the propeller shafts and propellers, the refrigeration, the fabrication of engine parts for replacement e.g. bolts, valves etc., installing the engine controls, the electrical power generation plant as well as the water system in the ship.
Other duties include managing life-saving equipment, fuel management, boat management, safety management, fire-fighting, first aid, supervising loading and off-loading hazardous materials, monitoring working conditions of engines and any other equipment so as to know whether or not they are working properly and to identify any fault, as well as engaging in pollution prevention in line with the international regulations and nautical tasks.
However, there are different positions in ship engineering division generally for
British and US vessel. Here are the positions:1. Chief Engineer: This post is in charge of engine department.2. Second Engineer in US it’s called 1st Assistant Engineer: This post engages in daily operations of engine department.3. Third Engineer in US it’s called 2nd Assistant Engineer: The position takes the responsibility of maintaining the auxiliary engines and boilers.4. Fourth Engineer in Us it’s called 3rd Assistant Engineer: This engineer unit maintains the air compressors, purifiers, pumps and auxiliary machinery.5. Electro-technical Officer (ETO): The officer in charge maintains electrical and electronics equipment like radars, VHF and so on.6. Electrical Officer: The officer maintains only the electronics equipment.7. Junior Engineer8. Cadet

Technicians and craftsmen in ship engineer division
In ship engineer division, there are other regular skilled jobs which include:a. Machinist or fitter: The person in charge fabricates and repairs machines.b. Motorman: The person assists the engineer and also does menial jobs.c. Oiler: The duty is to ensure that the machines are well lubricated.d. Wiper: The duty is to keep the engine room clean and tidy.
Having considered the above enormous tasks of ship engineer division, it won’t be too much to say that the engineer division is indispensable in marine transportation.

Greatest volume of cargo in international trade is carried by sea transportation. This explains one of the important roles sea transportation plays in the world. Freight transportation by sea is a cheaper means by which people move their cargoes in large quantity from one nation to another. Industrial revolution becomes effective in a nation that has a well-developed marine transport. Indeed,
it’s a necessary complement to other modes of freight transportation and trading
activities.
However, ships can be classified by its propulsion and size. Below are the types of
ships in marine transportation:

1. Bulk Carriers: Like the name suggests, they are cargo ships used to carry large number of cargo. The main surface of the out-side floor of the ship is designed like a large box to carry cargoes.

2. Container Ships: Like the name suggests, it is used to carry large dry cargoes packaged into large standardized containers. To a large extent, most of these ships are moved by diesel engines.

4. Refrigerated Ships: These are also cargo ships used to carry perishable items that need controlled temperature to preserve its freshness and such perishable items include: fruits, meat, fish, and vegetable among others.

5. Roll-on/roll- off ships: These ships are specially designed to carry dry cargoes like automobiles, trailers, railway carriages. The ships are designed with ramps that make it easy to roll in and roll out.

6. Coastal Trading Vessels: These are used for trading activities between different areas, nations and continents. They are usually small in size.

7. Ferries: These kinds of vessels are commonly used as public transport for people living in water-side areas; they are used to move passengers and their belongings such as any form of vehicles, luggage, and equipment, among others.

8. Cruise Ships: These are used mostly by tourism industries. They are ships used purposely for pleasure and people traveling in cruise ships are people traveling for recreation.

9. Ocean Liners: These are ships used to carry large number of people from one seaport to another on a long regular- distance planned at a certain time. They are also used to carry cargoes, mails and at times, they are used for any other purpose. Ocean liners normally are strong ships designed to resist rigorous conditions they are likely to face while on ocean.

10. Cable Layers: These are undersea or submarine built vessels purposely used to lay cables for telecommunications, electricity etc. below the surface of water.

11. Tug-boats: These boats are used to tow other boats or vessels.

12. Dredgers: They are ships usually used in a depth-less area of the sea that may affect smooth operations of the ship. These ships are designed to dig out and remove the materials that sink to the bottom of the sea.

13. Barges: They are flat-bottom boats usually used to move heavy cargoes on rivers and canals. It is important to note that most barges use tugboats or towboats to operate.

14. Multi-purpose ships: They are ships used to carry various items both in bulk and small quantities and at times, they are used to move heavy items. The modern ones are now designed to carry containers.

1. RMS TITANIC
RMS Titanic is one of the popular shipwrecks in the world history. It was an
ocean liner said to be unsinkable but later proved to be most notable sinkable
ship in the world. In 1912, precisely on April 10, the ship was on a journey. 4
days as the journey progressed, precisely on April 14, 1912, the ship suddenly
hit an iceberg just before the midnight and the ship sank less than 3 hours,
killing 1,514 lives.
However, in 1985, a Franco-American expedition discovered the ship and
found that the ship split into 2 parts, each part lying about a 3 rd of a mile from
each other.2. RMS REPUBLIC
RMS Republic was built 1903 and sank on January 24, 1909 at about
8:40p.m. 6 lives were said to be lost in that incident. The bad incident
occurred in 1909, on January 23 rd , when the ship collided with the Lloyd
Italiano liner SS Florida and the ship sank at about 8:40 p.m. on the said
day.3. RMS LUSITANIA
RMS Lusitania started operation in 1906 and it sank on May 7 th , 1915. 1,
191 lives were said to be lost in that incident. It was said that the shipwreck
was caused by a German U-boat.4. USS ARIZONA
USS Arizona was specially built for the US Navy in1915. It was bombed by
the Japanese on December 7 th , 1941. It was said that 1, 177 crew members
and officers were killed in the incident.
On the 5 th of May, the shipwreck became National Historic Landmark in the
US and the remains, known as USS Arizona Memorial, are viewable in the
US.5. THE MARY ROSE
It was a Tudor warship used during the reign of Henry VIII and it was
used in many battles against France, Britain and Scotland and it was
sunk during a battle against French.6. VASA
It was a Swedish warship, believed to have been built between 1626
and 1628. It sank on the 10 th of August, 1628, after being hit by
strong winds and flooding, sinking 20 minutes and less than a mile
into its journey.7. THE ANNE’S REVENGE
It was an 18 th century warship popularly known as the ship of the
legendary pirate Blackbeard. It used the ship less than a year with
greatest achievement during this short period of time.8. MV DONA PAZ
MV Dona Paz is referred to as the deadliest of all peacetime maritime
disasters. In December 20 th , 1987, the Philippine registered ferry with
over 4,000 passengers collided with an oil tanker MT Vector resulting
into fire accident killing an estimated number of 4, 386 passengers
and there were only 24 survivors.
It took 8 hours for Philippine maritime authorities to hear of the
incident due to poor communication equipment. However, because
of the fatal incident, it is referred to as ‘Asia’s Titanic’9. THE BLACK SWAN
It is a Spanish war ship known as Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes.
The warship sank in 1804 off Portugal territorial waters. However, in
2007 an American Company, Odyssey Marine Exploitation,
discovered gold, worth of $500 million.
However, the Spanish government made it known to be the rightful
owner of the said gold, hence the case was decided in the US
Supreme Court, and the court ordered the gold should be returned
to Spanish authorities.10. MS WORLD DISCOVERER
It was a Danish cruise ship manufactured in 1974. The disaster
occurred when the ship struck a rock at the Solomon Islands; all the
passengers survived the incident.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that there are over 3 million shipwrecks throughout the world at sea.

A wrecked ship refers to a destruction or loss of a ship at sea. However there are unwanted and unprecedented events that actually make a ship to become wrecked at sea. Some of these events are: heavy storm; bad weather; collision with another ship; when the ship strikes a rock or iceberg; poor design of a ship; poor arrangement of cargo; navigation, to mention but a few.

However, here are the notable shipwrecks in Africa:

A ship known as HMS Birken Head was sunk near Cape Town in South Africa.

In 1995, tourists discovered a shipwreck at Black Assarca.

A ship known as MV Mtongwe sunk on April 27, 1994, in Kenya.

A Greek oil tanker ship known as Katina P was sunk in Mozambique on April 26, 1992, caused by heavy storm.

On December, 1994, a fire accident caused a ship known as MS Achille Lauro to sink in Somalia territorial waters.

On September, 2011, a ship known as MV Spice Islander I was sunk in Somalia.

On May 21, 1996, in Mwanza area of Lake Victoria a ship known as MV Bukoba was sunk.

In addition, Lake Victoria in 2005, a ship known as MV kabaleja was sunk when it collided with another ship known as MV Kaawa in Ssese Island area.

On April 1st, 1999, a ship in Nigeria moving from Port-Harcourt to Nembe capsized.

On September 2002, a Senegalese passenger’s ship capsized near Gambia water territorial areas.

In conclusion, a shipwreck is always a great disaster and great loss that every marine company must try to avoid when preparing a ship for a journey. This is because a shipwreck may occur due to a human error and at times, it does occur accidentally. Nonetheless, every marine sailor must not throw safety into the wind when travelling by sea.

Maritime transport is very important to any nation in the world; it plays an important role in international and domestic trade. Hence, absence of this transport mode in a country will surely bring negative effects on its economy. Moreover, water transportation also plays an important role to compliment other modes of transport such as rail, road and air transport. Its capacity to carry heavy cargoes at less expensive cost makes other modes of transport and their infrastructures not to be overstretched. However, 6 major importance of maritime transportation are here below:

It promotes trade and commerce: sea transportation supports the domestic economy through importation of raw materials and equipments or machines used by manufacturers. This is an important role it plays in the economy of any nation.

It creates revenue and availability of finance: sea port transport generates a lot of money to the nation; it is a viable source of income that cannot be overlooked or undermined. For instance, in Nigeria, the Nigeria Sea Port source of revenue among others include, fees from registration of ship and mortgages, custom duties, port charges and tariffs realized by the Nigeria corporate taxes from shipping companies, fees for licensing and forward agents, registration of shipping and companies and so on.

It develops economic related activities: sea port transport aids the growth of some industries which are purposely established because of maritime transport, such industries are associated to maritime industry, e.g. Shipbuilding Company, logistics, etc.

Banks may also be interested in financing shipping companies or acquisition of vessels. All of these are economic related activities to maritime industry.

It creates employment opportunities: maritime transport plays important roles in economy of a nation because it creates employment opportunities for jobless people, thereby reducing social problems that can be caused by unemployment. Hence, the saying an idle hand is a devil workshop.

It enhances industrial growth and development: it is important to note that some entrepreneurs prefer to locate their firms near seaport in order reduce the high cost of transportation and to enhance ease accessibility to raw materials.